Working the learning curve, G B Aerial

by Bill Lavender

AHOSKIE, NC - "It's just not what I thought it would be. I invested almost $80,000 per aircraft, three AT-802s and two AT-602s, to qualify and bid fire fighting contracts. It didn't work out that way," says G B Aerial Applicators' owner David Guetersloh of Plains, Texas. AgAir Update caught up with his timber fertilizing operation in northeastern North Carolina a few miles south of the North Carolina - Virginia border.

Only last year G B Aerial operated two AT-802s, three AT-602s, two AT-502s and an AT-402. Now, the company has cut back to two AT-802s, an AT-602 and an AT-402. Forming the company in the early 1980s in west Texas, G B Aerial (Guetersloh Brothers David and Kevin) started out with one Cessna Husky to use on their 6,500-acre farming operation. The company grew, especially with the west Texas boll weevil program. Soon after, David and his wife, Sarah, bought out his brother, devoting their energies to building a viable company. Part of the expansion of G B Aerial included bidding west Texas boll weevil contracts. Realizing the limitations of both row crop applications in west Texas and the boll weevil program, David began expanding his operation into timber fertilizing and fire fighting.

Three companies, G B Aerial, John Schwenk's Aero-Spray and Hamp Byler's Byler Aerial Spraying Service, came together to form a coalition of sorts to work timber and prepare to enter into fire fighting. The idea was to create enough cash flow working timber in the winter months to be able to fight fires during the summer fire season. David had been told the best way to get into the fire fighting business was to subcontract with an operator who was already in the business. This would require the aircraft to be "carded" by the OAS/SEAT (Office of Aircraft Services/Single Engine Air Tanker). Although G B Aerial spent an enormous amount of money on relatively new aircraft, the carding did not happen. G B Aerial was getting calls from states that were in trouble with fires during the summer of 2002, but because of the carding issue, G B Aerial could not respond. However, the company was able to subcontract under other operators in Oregon, Utah, and Arizona, which built time and experience. It has been an exceptionally tough period for G B Aerial, getting set up to fight fires and organize a timber fertilizing company. Byler Aerial Spraying Service has withdrawn from the group, while Aero Spray, Inc. still is involved providing his AT-802.

"Most operators don't realize what it cost to work a timber contract, or prepare their aircraft to bid a fire fighting contract," explains David. "For example, we have found you can "overload" an airport when more than three AT-802s are working at the same time."

"Overloading" an airport means the planes get in each other's way taking off and landing. It is imperative that the aircraft minimize their turn around time on the ground, a key element in the profitability of a timber fertilizing operation. One method David uses is picking one aircraft to work the fields furthermost from the airport, while the other two work the remaining fields.

Another crucial requirement is to have two loading trucks. G B Aerial has two Roy's Custom Trucks-built units, the primary unit with 1,400-gallon fuel capacity and a fertilizer hopper capable of holding enough fertilizer for three AT-802s. The back up loading truck is smaller with a 600-gallon fuel tank and a hopper capable of holding two AT-802 loads. It steps in when the primary truck is being refilled with fuel from the G B Aerial tanker truck or has a breakdown. In this way, the Air Tractors are not stopped due to loading problems.

Another aspect for efficient ground operations to consider is having enough hopper bottom trailers available to prevent having to shut down due to lack of fertilizer. Ultimately, running nonstop depends on the fertilizer company providing the fertilizer in a timely fashion. This means having seven to ten hopper bottom trailers, each with 50,000 pounds of fertilizer, delivered daily to service the three AT-802s. G B Aerial keeps one of their hopper bottom trailers on site to help coordinate with the fertilizer company, permitting off loading on it. Usually, there will be three or four hopper bottom trailers on site, trying to keep up with the Air Tractors.

With a timber op, there are fixed cost for ground operations that have to be spread over the poundage applied per day. In other words, each day of the contract the ground operation's costs remain constant, whether fertilizer is going out or not. David figures his ground ops cost about $3,000 a day, rain or shine. For more than a three-plane operation to be efficient, the on-site ground ops have to split into two locations. In doing so, the ground ops' costs double. It is a never ending game of efficiency.

G B Aerial learned all this first hand while working four AT-802s and two AT-602s from the same airport. David also realized the cost of operation was almost the same for the AT-602 as with the AT-802 (pilot's pay and fuel, excluding insurance and purchase price), but the AT-802 produced 30% more work. This year the AT-602s remained in Texas, with the spring timber contract using three AT-802s.

G B Aerial and Aero Spray aircraft are all outfitted identically for timber work with the Transland Fire Fighting Computer Controlled Gate and Transland spreader interfaced with a Satloc M3 GPS. This system on the AT-802 provides for programmable flow rates with downloadable tracking of the application, a requirement of the timber companies. It also qualifies for fire fighting contracts.

Timber fertilizing contracts differ in their application requirements. However, typically, two applications are applied in a year; urea at 300-400 pounds per acre and DAP (diammonium phosphate) at 125-175 pounds per acre. Sometimes the application calls for TSP (trisodium phosphate) at 200 pounds per acre. The AT-802s are capable of carrying about 5,000 pounds of urea or 6,000 pounds of DAP or TSP per load. Some tracts are treated in the fall, while others are treated in the spring. The work usually calls for treating the same area twice during the same time period, once with urea, then followed by DAP.

Field sizes range from five acres to over 1,500. But, most fields are about 100 acres. Ferry distances can be nil, right at the airport or as much as 25 miles away. The Air Tractors ferry at 155 - 160 mph and work 80-foot swaths at 148-160 mph.

The paperwork for working timber is enormous. So much so, G B Aerial has a full time administrator on site. John Gable handles all the computer and paperwork for the company while on location. Maps are generated and studied for the most efficient way to set up the application schedule. This information is downloaded from the Satloc units at the end of the day, inspected and coordinated with work done and remaining work. The data is forwarded to the paper company or private land owner for proof of application. Besides the application paperwork, John keeps up with fertilizer load tickets, fuel delivery tickets, worker's safety programs and a host of other paperwork.

Pilots Marc Mullis, Greg Shultz and Robert Hanneman work as a team. They are paid a percentage of the total gross. In other words, they put their earnings in the pot and split it three ways. This ends any discussion about who is getting the best fields. Peer pressure keeps everyone up to speed. It helps when the three pilots are friends and work well together. David has tried every way imaginable structuring pilot's pay, but has found this way works the best.

Marc Mullis hails from Arkansas, once an ag operator. He recently completed training for fire fighting. Greg Shultz comes from Minnesota, growing up in the business with an ag-pilot father (who still flies at 76), has an operation in Minnesota and is a carded fire fighter pilot. Robert Hanneman operates a Pawnee painted Air Tractor colors in Denver City, Texas (jokingly called an AT-101). He flies it when not on contract with G B Aerial and is also a carded fire fighter.

Although David has flown ag in years past, today he is kept busy managing the overall operation. He explains there is a feeling of satisfaction when all three AT-802s are taking off and landing without a hitch; the fuel tanker truck is full, the loader trucks are working flawlessly and there's plenty of fertilizer on site to spread. It takes quite an effort of coordination to have all the components working correctly at the same time.

Back home in Plains, Texas, David's son, Dain and wife, Sarah, are managing the home front. Dain and Sarah are David's working partners handling computer and paperwork chores, while overseeing row crop and boll weevil spraying, helping bid contracts, bookkeeping and whatever else it takes to keep home base in the loop. Breaking out of the mold of row crop spraying into another type of aerial application is no small challenge. There are many things to consider, mainly because the whole concept of using an aircraft to disperse materials changes. Efficiency is paramount. Profitability can hinge on how well any one single contract is bid.

David warns other operators considering entering timber work and fire fighting operations to not take the investment lightly. Helicopters were bidding timber fertilizing contracts at $.09 per pound, then enters the ag plane bidding contracts at $.05 per pound. David says timber fertilizing can't be profitable at that price. The work only creates cash flow with hopes a fire fighting contract in the summer will fill the financial gap.